A person typically uses a telephone answering machine or a voice mail service to provide a caller with an opportunity to leave a message should the person be unavailable to take the call. On a busy day, a number of messages may be accumulated and made available for retrieval. As the person goes through the accumulated messages, he or she may simply listen to some of the messages. With respect to other messages, the person may desire to speak directly to the callers in “live calls to the callers”. In other words, the person may desire to make a reply call to one of the callers who left the person a message.
There are several different ways in which a person may make a reply call to a caller who left a message. A first way to make a reply call is referred to herein as “listen-to-all messages”. In this way, the person listens through all of the messages (taking notes as necessary), and makes the reply call only after finishing with the accumulated messages. If the person subscribes to a voice mail service, then after the person's call to the voice mail service to retrieve the messages, the person places another call so as to make the reply call to the caller of one of the messages. If the person uses an answering machine, then after the last message is played, the person may place a call to make the reply call.
This listen-to-all messages way of making a reply call has at least three disadvantages. First, the person has to listen through or otherwise take time with all of his or her messages. The time it takes to get through all of the messages is at least the delay experienced by the person in making the reply call. Second, the person may have to take notes (perhaps at least to capture the telephone number of the caller) while going through the messages so as to keep track of which messages need a reply, to what directory number to reply, etc. Third, the person, after the reply call has been concluded, may desire to return to the messages or to the voice mail functions. In that case, the caller may have to call back into the voice mail system or otherwise access the answering machine.
This third disadvantage may require a four stage process in the making of a reply call and getting back to messages or answering machine functions: (1) call into the service or run the answering machine; (2) exit the service or terminate the answering machine functions; (3) make the reply call; and (4) call back into the service or otherwise access the answering machine functions.
Another way to make a reply call is referred to herein as the “urgent-reply”. The urgent-reply method may be used to avoid at least one of the disadvantages of the “listen to all” method in making a reply call. Pursuant to the urgent-reply method, the reply call is made as soon after listening to the relevant message as desired. For example, a caller may have left an urgent message for the person. As soon as the person gathers the urgency of the message and the relevant call-back information, the person may initiate the reply call. This urgent-reply method may avoid some aspects of the first of the disadvantages of the listen-to-all method of making a reply call in that the person does not have to listen to all of the messages before making a reply call.
But like the listen-to-all method, to make the reply call pursuant to the urgent reply method, the person still has to gather enough information to dial the call, etc. This may involve taking notes. In addition, the person may have made the reply call per the urgent-reply method and missed the remainder of his or her accumulated messages. In that case, the person has to call into the voice mail system or otherwise access the answering machine.
Yet another way of making a reply call is referred to herein as “bounce-back”, which is generally available only from advanced voice mail systems. Such an advanced voice mail system requires the person to call-in for messages, allows a reply call to be made after a particular message, and then allows the person to return to the voice mail service without the person having to make another call into the system. The bounce-back method may be implemented through the use of a platform such as an intelligent peripheral (IP) that maintains control over the person's call into the system and over the reply call. One manner in which to maintain control is to bridge the person's call into the system with the reply call to the caller who left the message. After the reply call is finished, then the bridge may be torn down, and the person may return to a review of messages or other voice mail functions.
But the manner in which bounce-back allows the person to return to the voice mail service without having to make a separate call into the system has drawbacks. Maintaining control over the person's call into the system and the reply call (by making a bridge or otherwise) has the effect of including the platform as an element in the call path. By remaining an element in the call path, the platform takes up resources of the telecommunications network. In addition, by remaining an element in the call path, the platform may limit, if not eliminate, its own resources to take other calls for the person. Rather than being able to take another call for the person, the platform may be effectively “busy”. Whether the resources that are taken up are those of the telecommunications network, the platform, or the voice mail service, the result of the take-up in resources is an increase in cost in at least operations of the platform and service.
Accordingly, there is a need for a solution that allows a person to make a reply call to a message left by a caller without the person having to listen through all of the messages, without the caller having to make a call into the voice mail system or otherwise activate the voice mail service in order to continue a review of messages or use other features of the service after the conclusion of the reply call, and without an implementing device of the voice mail service being included as an element in the call path while the caller is making the reply call.